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8/25/13

I'm finally back! I apologize for the delay in posts. It seems like every year, the weeks leading up to school mess up my mojo. And then I got sidetracked by a new job (my first job by the way!) but I'm finally catching up!

Today I'm reviewing a new to me brand, m.vie from Midnight Velvet. After my first makeup review I got a great response so I'm excited to post more for you guys.

For this look I used the m.vie Tangerine Dream Mineral Gem Trio loose pigments. I fully expected to have to pack these on but a little goes a very long way. I also used NYX Eyeshadow Base to help the pigments stick.

Go-Go Gold (the gold) is my favorite. It applies so vibrant and beautiful. It's a gorgeous antique gold. Savvy Saffron (the bronze-y color) is more orange in real life but still wearable. And finally Green Light, my second favorite, is a light mossy green. It's very flattering and wearable as well.

Along with the pigments, I used my first gold eyeliner--the m.vie Waterproof Eye Liner in Gold Shimmer. This gold is even prettier than Go-Go Gold (if that is possible). This is great on the water liner and didn't rub off one bit. I also like the convenience of the attached smudger.

7/13/13

I'm back with a nail art design I have had planned in my head for the longest, looooongest time.

This is my first time using Born Pretty Store's water decals but I was very pleased with them. They actually surprised me because I wasn't sure I would like them.

These decals work great for nail art! I don't know about you but I couldn't do this design without the decals.

When I'm shopping for nail stickers/decals the most important thing to me is that they don't just look like a photo printed on your nails. And in real life these blend perfectly!

You can purchase these water decals for $2.86 at Born Pretty Store using my coupon code GFL91 for 10% off your purchase plus free shipping.

For this manicure I used China Glaze Sea Spray, China Glaze First Mate,and CCUK Midnight Blue for the gradient background. I used theCompass Chain Anchor Pattern water decals for the nautical print. I found that the directions were helpful but not specific so below I've written out exactly how I applied them.

EDIT: I wore these decals in this manicure for almost four days and had no problem with the decals coming off, lifting,fading, etc.

How to Apply Born Pretty Store's Water Decals

1. Paint your base color and let it dry completely.

2. Fill a cup/bowl/tub with room temp. water.

3. After choosing which design you want to use, cut it out and dip it into the water for about 15 seconds.

4. After it's been soaked in the water the design itself should literally slide off the white paper (if this doesn't happen, dip it back in the water). Once it slides off apply the design to your nail.

5. Wipe off any water excess and use a blow dryer on low setting to set the decal. Do this for about 8-15 seconds.

6. Apply top coat to your nail and blow dry again for about 8-15 seconds and you're done!

*TIP: Do this one nail at a time.

What do you think about water decals? Have you ever tried any? Let me know below!

Step 2: Next, use a sponge to create a vertical gradient of white and red. It's okay if it's messy. The Nailasaurus has a great tutorial on gradients, just switch the directions and make this horizontal with white on the two sides!

Step 3: Using a nail art brush and a light blue nail polish, start creating your stars. Doing half stars is much easier than whole stars so that's what I chose to do. Start with an outline and fill them in.

Step 4: Finish drawing your stars by filling them all in with your nail art brush and light blue (Zoya Kristen). The brushes I use are from Born Pretty (use code GFL91 for 10% off).

All done! Just add top coat.

This is such a fun look! I think it's perfect for the more funky and edgy people out there.

This second design is much more simple for beginners--or anyone--to recreate. I didn't get the chance to make a tutorial but it's so simple so I will just walk you through it.

I'm loving the textured look lately, it's such an interesting look.

Using vibrant colors really turns this simple manicure into something more exciting!

For this manicure I used China Glaze Hey Sailoras the red base. Afterwards I used a nail art brush and white acrylic paint to paint about 2/3 of the nail white. The blue stripes were created with a thin nail art brush and Zoya Liberty. I used a dotting tool for the dots.

The Fourth of July is filled with fireworks, fun nights, and good food. Nail art can now be added to the list! Which of the two designs is your favorite?P.S. Don't forget to enter my giveaway! You could win a $100 shopping spree to PersunMall and buy all the clothes you want!

6/29/13

Good morning! Today I am bringing you a giveaway from Persun Mall! Now I'm no fashion blogger but when they offered a giveaway for my readers I couldn't pass up! It's easy to enter and the more people who enter, the more winners there will be (so share this giveaway with errbody).

For every 60 participants, there will be a prize. So 120 participants means two winners. The winner will be able to choose one piece of clothing from the picture above and will be contacted by Persun Mall to claim their prize. An overall winner of all PersunMall giveaways will win a $100 giftcard! Giveaway open internationally/worldwide.

How do I enter?

1. Complete ALL 3 mandatory entries on the rafflecopter form below.

2. SHARE this giveaway for extra entries! (Non-mandatory but will result in more prizes for YOU)

Basically this is a weekly challenge that can be posted any time during that week (you can also skip weeks). Ill be posting my nails on my instagram using the hashtag #busygirlnails so if you prefer to see them there make sure you're following me. This week's theme was stripes!

These nails refused to photograph (or even edit) well but I had a lot of fun doing them! They're fun without being too over-the-top.

I wasn't inspired by anything in particular when doing this design but I have a feeling this has been done before so if it has it's purely coincidental!

For this manicure I used black and white acrylic paint along with a nail art brush for the striped base. Then, using a small nail art brush, I created the rose pattern along the top of each nail using a variety of colors (just ask if you'd like specific names!). I drew leaves on only two fingers for a more unique look, I used Essie Mojito Madness for those and lightened it for the lighter green. Essie Matte About You was applied to create the matte finish.

I loooove today's manicure! What do you think? Too much or just right?

6/24/13

To start this week off I'm sharing my Sally Hansen I Heart Nail Art contest entry! This month's theme was texture. I've had this design in my head for the longest and this was the perfect excuse to finally put it on my nails.

This design was inspired by Chalkboard Nail's Beauty & the Beach contest entry. A contest entry inspired by another contest entry? Lol.

I'm really happy with the way this turned. It's so much more interesting to look at with the added texture nail polish. Don't you agree?

For this manicure I used a variety of nude nail polishes for the "sand like" base (including nudes from Zoya, China Glaze, Sally Hansen, L.A. Colors, etc). Then I used a nail art brush and Zoya Destany to create the starfish shape. Using a small dotting tool I created polka dots inside each star with Zoya Solange. I only applied topcoat after creating the "sand like" base.

6/23/13

I've been debating whether or not I should make a post about this or not but then I decided why not?

As we all know (assuming no one lives under a rock) Google Reader is being discontinued and by July no one will be able to use Google Reader to read blogs. Why do you ask? I have no idea, I don't even think the people at Google know why. This is probably a secret way to torture us I'm sure.

On a more serious note, you can always follow Haute Lacquer and all your other favorite blogs using Bloglovin'. I've been using Bloglovin' for a while now and I absolutely love it and would recommend it if you liked Google Reader.